


Healing Fountain

by slimecrime



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Kinda, M/M, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:02:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29596653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slimecrime/pseuds/slimecrime
Summary: Zagreus is injured and comes to a fountain chamber. Thanatos helps him.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 175





	Healing Fountain

A few minutes rest was welcome to the injured prince. He did not want to think about how his legs were shaking, or how blood was spiraling down his arms and thighs. Droplets of red trailed behind him on the grass and clover, dripping from his fingertips. 

Happening upon this fountain chamber hidden in the fields of Elysium was merely desperate luck.

Zagreus exhaled a somewhat painful breath, and knelt his sword against the side of the stone pool. He eased himself down onto the edge of the fountain, much of his wounded body protesting all the way, and took a moment just to sit in the quiet. 

He listened to the gentle trickle of the fountain, accompanied by all the strange sounds up here. There were always little chirping noises, flitting from up in the trees. He was entirely unfamiliar with what anything here was beyond books he’d read. He’d seen illustrations of trees and grass and plants and the blue blue sky. The smells, too, were strange. And strong. 

He didn’t have the words to describe them. He largely had experience only with carefully cultivated gardens. They were nothing like these rolling wilds, bright glades full of an endless variety of flowers and trees and shrubs and insects and animals—and sunlight! Warm and bright and strange sunlight. 

There was a long high pitched whining, flowing in and out from the tree above him. He was entirely unsure what would be making the noise, but it was quite often that he heard it. It was not at all unpleasant, though. Much like the flitting and chirping and other strange noises, he could only scarcely imagine what strange creatures could be responsible. 

He also knew, though, that he was quite badly injured at the moment, and unfortunately did not have the time to contemplate the beauty of Elysium. 

Zagreus took another breath, his injured gut screaming in protest. He then carefully leaned over the edge of the fountain and began by first submerging his aching arms—raked with bleeding cuts and blisters and burns—in the cool water. 

He sighed.

“Oh, thank the gods…” he whispered. 

He watched his blood swirl like red smoke for a moment, until the healing waters began to clean his wounds and coax them shut. All the cuts in his flesh slowly began to heal into nothing more than welts. 

A good start. 

He let himself hang over the edge of the pool for a few moments longer, enjoying the wonderful sensation of the water surrounding his arms, both longing to submerge his entire body and dreading the process of getting to that point. 

However, he did not have much time to waste. 

And as if to spur him on and confirm that he was in quite dire condition, the low snap and greenish fog of Death approaching filled the corner of his vision. 

“Oh, just come right in, Than,” Zagreus whispered. 

“Thought you could use some help,” he said as he approached him. 

His large form hovered over him, casting a shadow over the bright clear waters of the fountain. 

“Not many wretches to slay at the moment,” the Prince murmured. “You’ve missed your boat.”

“I don’t miss anything, Zag,” Thanatos said calmly as he moved to sit down next to him. 

His black cloak draped over the wide, short, steps leading up to the stone basin as he lounged against the pool. He leaned casually on his elbow, entirely relaxed in the quiet of the private chamber. 

Thanatos let out a small contented sigh. 

“I was just around,” he said. “And, well, I could practically smell your impending demise and thought I might check up on you.”

Zagreus frowned and reluctantly lifted his arms out of the basin. He sat back a bit, letting any excess of healing water drip soothingly down his front. However, that was not quite enough to stop his wretchedly bleeding wounds, aching and sticky with drying blood. 

“Well, I was just about to have a bath,” he mumbled, sounding far weaker than he’d like. 

“Oh,” Than said. “Would you like me to help, or would you rather I leave you?”

 _Oh, that actually sounds quite nice…_ the Prince thought. 

He sat up just a bit and began to undo the straps holding on the bony decorum resting heavily on his shoulder. 

“If you’re offering and wouldn’t mind, I would appreciate the help, thank you,” he said, tasting iron on his tongue. 

Without saying anything, Than took the three dog skulls on their cloth spines and set them gently on the steps. Then his hands were softly on his cheek and his lips quickly pecked his own. 

“It’ll just be a bit longer, then,” he told him. 

Zagreus let him undo his belt, as his own hands had begun to grow weaker and shakier. He set it neatly beside the three skulls, and then began to unwrap him from his other garments. Much of the cloth was glued to his bleeding stomach.

“Here, let's take care of that first and not waste any more time on it,” Than said, reaching over to cup some of the fountain’s water in his hand. 

He managed to bring over just a splash onto Zagreus’ midsection, but it still helped a great deal. 

He repeated this a few times, bringing healing waters to the unseen gash, which both loosened the coagulated blood and eased the pain. After a few, he kissed his forehead gently, and returned to finish unwrapping his clothes. 

He did not waste time folding them, but did gently lay them with his other belongings. 

With the wound now exposed, along with other comparatively minor cuts, he began to hurry a bit more. 

“Off with these then,” Than whispered, quickly undoing the buckles on his shin guards. He let them clatter onto the stone, and idly placed them near his belts.

“Doing okay?” He whispered, holding him steady where he lay and planting another small kiss on his forehead. 

Zagreus swallowed, feeling woozy and strange beyond just the pain of his wounds. He found he didn’t know how to answer and just nodded.

The Prince allowed him to then remove his torn up leggings, stripping him bare and revealing more cuts and spider-web patterns of dripping red down his thighs. He tossed them into the vicinity of his other items and then began to coax him up. 

“Alright then, here…” Than said softly, voice straining just slightly as he helped to get him over the edge of the fountain. 

Zagreus, again, found he couldn’t say much of anything. 

The God of Death helped him slowly lower his naked and bleeding body into the cool water. The sun, making its way through the trees in bright splotches, glittered across the surface of the ripples, casting quivering webs of light across the wall behind him. 

He let out a relieved sigh and sank against the side of the basin. The flames of his feet sputtered out in a cloud of steam, but still served to warm the pool as they always did. He closed his eyes as Than’s fingers ran through and through his hair. 

“Are you okay?” He asked him quietly. 

Zagreus tried to say something, but the words he could’ve used to respond all were caught in his throat. 

He just nodded again and swallowed. He found himself biting his lip quite hard. He found his eyes stinging. 

“Are you sure? Did I do anything wrong? I can go if…”

“No,” he said quickly. “This is lovely, thank you.”

There was a long stretch of quiet, as Zagreus’s wounds slowly healed and the strange creatures hidden in the grass and trees chirped and whirred. Thanatos’s fingers continued to comb through his hair, and he’d occasionally lean over and plant a small kiss on his cheek. 

After a bit, when the pain of his wounds was beginning to subside and he was feeling very warm and loved to the point of being overwhelmed with it, he felt a few tears leak from his eyes and felt he had to turn away from him. 

“I’m sorry,” Zagreus said. “Sorry.”

Thanatos quickly pulled away, no matter how discrete he tried to be with wiping off his face. 

“No, it’s okay. I’ll stop. I’m sorry,” Than said quickly. “I’ll be more careful. It’s obvious I’ve overwhelmed you. I’m not used to, um- I just wanted to-“

As soon as his fingers left his hair, though, he missed his touch terribly. 

“It’s nice,” Zagreus insisted. “It’s very nice. It felt nice. I’m sorry. I’m not sure what’s wrong. You can keep doing it, though.”

Than visibly relaxed, but didn’t resume right away. 

“Alright,” he said. 

He readjusted himself and his cloak and sat perfectly behind him. This time his fingers found the side of his cheek, slowly trailing his knuckles across his skin.

“If anything is upsetting you, please tell me,” he said. 

Zagreus nodded. He wasn’t sure he really even knew. 

“I’m not upset,” he assured him. “I suppose… I don’t get much of this.”

There was a moment of quiet again as he watched a butterfly settle onto a flower. He watched its wings open and close, becoming brown at the close and beautiful yellow as they opened.

“I suppose,” he started again. He swallowed. “I get a lot of fights. A lot of swords and spears. I suppose I get quite hurt very often.” 

The butterfly’s wings were so extravagant, golden yellow and splashed with different colors like jewels. He had only seen ones like that in books.

“I suppose I’m not used to this sort of thing,” he said. “I suppose I’m used to being killed, even by those I am close to.”

Another kiss was firmly planted on his other cheek. Followed in quick succession by another, and then another. Than’s hair pressed against his face as he leaned against him, his nose and his breath brushing Zagreus’s exposed collarbone. 

“I… I’m not quite used to this either,” Thanatos admitted. “I don’t know when I was last able to, to be affectionate. Or touch someone.”

He hung his head over Zagreus’s shoulder and his fingers idly found their way into his hair again.

“I want to, though,” he said. ”I want to be affectionate toward you. I’m sorry you have to go through this.” 

Zagreus’s gaze trailed down to his own wounds, which had all but healed into pale scars.

“I’m sorry he hurts you so badly,” Than said, then, in a voice shaking like he had never heard from him before. “I’ll do this with you as many times as you want.” 

Zagreus bit his lip again, his eyes stinging. 

Than kissed his cheek yet again. 

“ _Prince_ Zagreus,” he whispered, laughing sadly. 

And he kissed him again. 

His fingers traced down the bones of his cheeks and along his jaw. His thumb stroked across his chin and across his lower lip. Then he drew his finger down the bridge of his nose.

“Beautiful Prince Zagreus,” he whispered. “Far too pretty to endure so much injury. Oh, I missed a cut...” 

He dipped his fingers into the pool and brought cool water up to his cheek. There was a slight stinging and then nothing as whatever it was, promptly healed. 

“There,” he said, bringing the same hand back through his hair and pulling it away from his face. 

Zagreus bit his lip even harder. He had no idea what to do with this. He was often the one giving affection, if any affection involved him at all. He was giving gifts and making others laugh and finding the best ways to lighten the mood. And with Than, he had spent quite a while getting him to relax, touching him cautiously and teaching that it was okay to let his guard down.

More often, though, he was looking for pleasure in pain, because he had a far larger supply of that. He took pleasure in receiving pain and in loving others and had little in the way of being the center of affection. 

It was not never, of course. Their relationship had progressed comfortably and they often laid together in bed, quietly kissing each other to sleep.

Perhaps, in this instance, it was the fountain water and the dreadful pain being healed and everything compounding. It was all too much in a very sweet way. 

Than kissed him again, this time on the corner of his lips. Zagreus turned his head and kissed him back, softly, just once. And then he kissed him once more, on his soft lips. 

Than’s hand held him gently, fingers stroking the back of his neck. He kissed into him with a slow and beautiful sweetness. Zagreus melted into him, all from the warmth welling up in his chest. He could easily kiss him forever in the sun like this, his lips so smooth and sweet. 

But they did pull apart eventually, if only just. They still sat with their foreheads pressed together, with their hands at each other’s jaws. 

“Do you normally wash your clothes or is there no time for them to dry?” Than asked suddenly. 

Zagreus thought for a moment. He felt a bit foggy. 

“I might get some of the worse blood out if it’s a bit thick and gross,” he answered. 

“Alright,” Than said with another kiss. And then his comforting presence moved away.

He watched Than find the worst of it, the parts of his clothes which had covered the gash in his side. He laid them up on the side of the fountain and looked for something to clean them with. 

With nothing of the sort around, he resorted to dipping the badly bloodied portion in the fountain and scraping it clean with his nails. The water itself remained ever clear, dissolving blood as though it were never there. The sunlight continued to glisten off its surface, and glowed around Thanatos’s dark hood. 

“I love you,” Zagreus whispered to him. “Thank you.” 

Than glanced up at him for only a second before averting his eyes back to his work. His smile could still be seen, obscured by his bangs and hood though it might be. 

“I love you too,” he said.

With the worst of it cleaned, he laid them in the sun with hopes they might dry a bit. However, they had already taken too much of their time here, in this lovely place, and it could not last forever. Soon Zagreus was easily strong enough to lift himself from the pool and step out onto the cold stone steps. 

His feet sputtered hot steam as they dried, until they slowly reignited into licking flames. He quickly dressed himself, with some brief assistance from Than simply because he offered, and then there was not much left to be done here. He picked up his sword and rested it heavy on his shoulder. 

Than affectionately adjusted Zagreus’s belt, fixing some of the pleats. Then he took him by the jaw and planted one more deep kiss on his lips. 

“I’ll see you back at the house then?” he said, not taking his fingers away from his chin. 

“Of course,” Zagreus said. 

“Hope you get to die of natural causes this time, then,” he said. “Stay focused and be careful.”

Zagreus smiled and nodded. 

“Of course,” he said. “Thank you for all of this. It was very nice.” 

Than looked away from him a moment, his hand still carefully cupping his jaw.

“Don’t worry about it. I just hope I didn’t distract you for too long,” he said. “Let me know if you ever want to do this again.” 

“Of course,” he smiled. “I suppose it’s goodbye now, though.”

“Unfortunately,” he said. “Bye, Zag.”

“Bye, Than.” 

And he was gone in a puff of green smoke, and Zagreus was left to return to battle.


End file.
